The association of nutrition behaviors and physical activity with general and central obesity in Caribbean undergraduate students
OBJECTIVE: To quantify the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related factors in a crosssectional, observational study of Caribbean students using the results of three recent surveys of health behavior among undergraduates in Barbados, Grenada, and Jamaica. METHODS: A total of1 578 Caribbean undergra...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:63a8f101db8c4b89b3becc7574480284 2023-05-15T15:15:43+02:00 The association of nutrition behaviors and physical activity with general and central obesity in Caribbean undergraduate students Melecia Wright Linda Adair Caryl James Omowale Amuleru-Marshall Karl Peltzer Supa Pengpid T. Alafia Samuels https://doaj.org/article/63a8f101db8c4b89b3becc7574480284 EN ES PT eng spa por Pan American Health Organization http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1020-49892015000900003&lng=en&tlng=en https://doaj.org/toc/1680-5348 1680-5348 https://doaj.org/article/63a8f101db8c4b89b3becc7574480284 Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, Vol 38, Iss 4, Pp 278-285 Obesity abdominal diet exercise students Barbados Grenada Jamaica Caribbean region West Indies Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article ftdoajarticles 2022-12-30T21:15:11Z OBJECTIVE: To quantify the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related factors in a crosssectional, observational study of Caribbean students using the results of three recent surveys of health behavior among undergraduates in Barbados, Grenada, and Jamaica. METHODS: A total of1 578 Caribbean undergraduate students from Barbados, Grenada, and Jamaica (ages 18-30 years) completed questionnaires and had physical measurements recorded. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for the association of nutrition behaviors with prevalence of obesity (body mass index > 30 kg/m² ); elevated waist-to-height ratio (W/ht) (> 0.50); and high waist circumference (WC) (> 88 cm in females, > 102 cm in males). Models were adjusted for age, year in university, socioeconomic status, and sex. RESULTS: There was a higher prevalence of obesity (13% versus 10%), high WC (21% versus 7%), and high W/ht (35% versus 25%) in females relative to males. Compared to females, males had reduced odds of obesity (OR 0.46), high WC (OR 0.22), and high W/ht (OR 0.61) (P < 0.05 for all). Both females (46%) and males (24%) reported high levels of physical inactivity. Fruit and vegetable consumption was low (approximately two servings per day). Many students reported avoiding fatty foods (40%); this behavior was associated with high W/ht (OR 1.68), obesity (OR 1.90), and high WC (OR 1.82) (P < 0.05 for all). Irregular breakfast consumption, age, and year of study were also positively associated with obesity. Physical activity was not significantly associated with any obesity measure. CONCLUSIONS: There was a low prevalence of healthy behaviors and a high prevalence of obesity in this sample of Caribbean young adults. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English Spanish Portuguese |
topic |
Obesity abdominal diet exercise students Barbados Grenada Jamaica Caribbean region West Indies Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Obesity abdominal diet exercise students Barbados Grenada Jamaica Caribbean region West Indies Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Melecia Wright Linda Adair Caryl James Omowale Amuleru-Marshall Karl Peltzer Supa Pengpid T. Alafia Samuels The association of nutrition behaviors and physical activity with general and central obesity in Caribbean undergraduate students |
topic_facet |
Obesity abdominal diet exercise students Barbados Grenada Jamaica Caribbean region West Indies Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
OBJECTIVE: To quantify the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related factors in a crosssectional, observational study of Caribbean students using the results of three recent surveys of health behavior among undergraduates in Barbados, Grenada, and Jamaica. METHODS: A total of1 578 Caribbean undergraduate students from Barbados, Grenada, and Jamaica (ages 18-30 years) completed questionnaires and had physical measurements recorded. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for the association of nutrition behaviors with prevalence of obesity (body mass index > 30 kg/m² ); elevated waist-to-height ratio (W/ht) (> 0.50); and high waist circumference (WC) (> 88 cm in females, > 102 cm in males). Models were adjusted for age, year in university, socioeconomic status, and sex. RESULTS: There was a higher prevalence of obesity (13% versus 10%), high WC (21% versus 7%), and high W/ht (35% versus 25%) in females relative to males. Compared to females, males had reduced odds of obesity (OR 0.46), high WC (OR 0.22), and high W/ht (OR 0.61) (P < 0.05 for all). Both females (46%) and males (24%) reported high levels of physical inactivity. Fruit and vegetable consumption was low (approximately two servings per day). Many students reported avoiding fatty foods (40%); this behavior was associated with high W/ht (OR 1.68), obesity (OR 1.90), and high WC (OR 1.82) (P < 0.05 for all). Irregular breakfast consumption, age, and year of study were also positively associated with obesity. Physical activity was not significantly associated with any obesity measure. CONCLUSIONS: There was a low prevalence of healthy behaviors and a high prevalence of obesity in this sample of Caribbean young adults. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Melecia Wright Linda Adair Caryl James Omowale Amuleru-Marshall Karl Peltzer Supa Pengpid T. Alafia Samuels |
author_facet |
Melecia Wright Linda Adair Caryl James Omowale Amuleru-Marshall Karl Peltzer Supa Pengpid T. Alafia Samuels |
author_sort |
Melecia Wright |
title |
The association of nutrition behaviors and physical activity with general and central obesity in Caribbean undergraduate students |
title_short |
The association of nutrition behaviors and physical activity with general and central obesity in Caribbean undergraduate students |
title_full |
The association of nutrition behaviors and physical activity with general and central obesity in Caribbean undergraduate students |
title_fullStr |
The association of nutrition behaviors and physical activity with general and central obesity in Caribbean undergraduate students |
title_full_unstemmed |
The association of nutrition behaviors and physical activity with general and central obesity in Caribbean undergraduate students |
title_sort |
association of nutrition behaviors and physical activity with general and central obesity in caribbean undergraduate students |
publisher |
Pan American Health Organization |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/63a8f101db8c4b89b3becc7574480284 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, Vol 38, Iss 4, Pp 278-285 |
op_relation |
http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1020-49892015000900003&lng=en&tlng=en https://doaj.org/toc/1680-5348 1680-5348 https://doaj.org/article/63a8f101db8c4b89b3becc7574480284 |
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1766346059364171776 |